TO RECAPUC Davis led Saturday’s home meet at the Schaal Aquatic Center from start-to-finish to defeat the visiting Pacific Tigers 176.5-106.5. With the win, the Aggies are now 5-2 this season in dual events.

By winning the first nine straight events against the Tigers, UC Davis was able to create a sizable advantage that only grew as the afternoon progressed. Led by sophomore Hilary Hunt and junior Haley Porter with two, six different Aggies won their individual races to help seal the victory.

Freshman Lucy Lafranchise earned 18 points for the Aggies’ cause vs. Pacific by earning the top scores in both the 1-meter and 3-meter diving events that took place earlier that week. Posting a 253.35 in the 1-meter, Lafranchise set a new season-high mark by posting a 272.05 in 3-meter competition, a score that is now the fourth-highest recorded by an Aggie diver in the program’s history.

At the Bruin Diving Invitational, Lafranchise (28th/227.85) led a contingent of five UC Davis divers that had a solid showing on the 3-meter board during the first day of action from the Spieker Aquatics Center in Los Angeles.

Day two saw four Aggies compete on the 1-meter board; sophomore Shannon Stewart led all Aggies by finishing 35th with a score of 199.60. Freshman Hanna Tears (191.95) and Lafranchise (191.10) took 41st and 42nd place, with junior Lauren Jesse (172.75) finishing her day in 48th place amongst a field of divers from some of the top swimming and diving programs in the country.

The final day of diving saw Audrey DeNeffe finish 17th with a score of 179.85, the third-highest platform score recorded by a UC Davis diver this season to finish four spots ahead of freshman Lucy Lafranchise who obliterated her previous season-best score by more than 30 points to finish 21st. (176.60).

A DAY TO REMEMBERSaturday’s dual against CSU Bakersfield is the final home event for five UC Davis swimmers and divers who will graduate this spring. The group of student-athletes who will be honored during the 15-minute break at the Schaal Aquatics Center include: Geneva Azevedo, Nicole Bahbout, Grace Benefield, Bridget Bugbee and Morgan Lee.

SHE’S ON THE LISTFreshman diver Lucy Lafranchise earned a spot on the Aggies’ all-time top-10 list with her performance on the 3-meter board against the Pacific Tigers. In addition to earning a 272.05, the fourth-highest ever recorded by a UC Davis diver, Lafranchise’s score is highest earned in this event this year.

UC DAVIS EARNS TOP-10 RANKINGAfter its impressive performance at the Mizzou Invite last December, the UC Davis swimming and diving team jumped two spots and is now No. 8 in the newest top-25 mid-major rankings released by CollegeSwimming.com. The Aggies are the highest-ranked team out of the four Mountain Pacific Sports Federation schools on CollegeSwimming’s latest list, one that also includes Hawai’i (No. 9), UC Santa Barbara (No. 12) and Cal Poly (No. 24). The top-25 list is the second one organized by CollegeSwimming.com this season, UC Davis found itself ranked No. 10 in the site’s inaugural listing released last November.

DIVING COACH Phil Tonne“It was a great experience for all of the divers to compete against high-level divers at the Bruin Diving Invite. Compared to a dual meet where you will have, around 12 divers compete, only a handful of minutes will pass between dives. At an event like this, which is similar to conference championships, 15-20 minutes will pass from one dive to the next.”

“I instill in my practices that every dive counts, especially as we near conference (championships). Practice does not make perfect, perfect practice makes perfect.”

"Senior day is an emotional event because I have been working with my divers for many years. Once competition begins, I just want my divers to perform as well as they can."